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2017 Triathlete of the Year: Men...

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2017 MINNESOTA MULTISPORT AWARDS - Here are the four official male nominees for 2017 TRIATHLETE OF THE YEAR:

 

- NATHAN ANSBAUGH, 30, Minneapolis (photo below)

Tri Highlights:

1st @ Lake Minnetonka Triathlon

1st @ Lake Waconia Triathlon

2nd @ Liberty Half IM

3rd @ Minneapolis Olympic

3rd @ Heart of the Lakes

5th @ Superior Man Half IM

 

- JOSH BLANKENHEIM, 37, Duluth (photo L)

Tri Highlights:

1st @ Brewhouse Olympic

2nd @ Liberty Olympic

2nd @ Lake Waconia....

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2017 Triathlete of the Year: Women

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2017 MINNESOTA MULTISPORT AWARDS - Here are the women who are the offical nominees for 2017 TRIATHLETE OF THE YEAR:

 

- GABY BUNTEN, 25, Forest Lake

Tri Highlights:

1st @ Life Time South Beach Olympic

1st amateur / 2nd overall @ Trinona Olympic

1st overall @ Minneapolis Triathlon - POY Nominee

5th overall @ USAT Olympic Nationals

 

- KORTNEY HAAG, 38, Maple Grove

Tri Highlights:

1st @ Liberty Half IM

1st @ Graniteman Clearwater Olympic - CR

1st @ Graniteman Big Lake Olympic - CR

2nd @ Chisago Half IM - 4:39:50

2nd @ Maple Grove Olympic ...

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2017 Performance of the Year: Men...

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2017 MINNESOTA MULTISPORT AWARDS - Yesterday we revealed the nominations for female PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR. Today we do likewise for the men. Once again, reducing the number of performances to just four wasn't easy.

Here are the POY nominations:

 

- SEAN COOLEY's win at Chisago Lakes Half IM - Sean's 4:06:52 was the fastest 70.3 time by an amateur Minnesota male in 2017.

 

- SEAN COOLEY's 2nd at Minneapolis  (photo) - Cooley's 1:55:29 was the fastest Olympic distance performance by a Minnesota male last season. He finished 24-seconds behind Iowa's Evan Culbert, who placed 6th overall at Nationals and is a likely US AOY nominee.

 

- WADE CRUSER's victory at Apple - Wade beat a stellar men's field in Sartell, including two decorated pros.

 

- MATTHEW PAYNE's win at Buffalo Olympic. The Payne Train outraced one of the deepest men's field of the year at Buff.

Also considered:  ...

 

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2017 POYs: Women...

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2017 MINNESOTA MULTISPORT AWARDS - FEMALE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR -  It took a while to whittle the number of great performances to the four that would receive nominations. This process included the use of  "The Matt Payne Rule,"  wherein no athlete can have more than two nominated performance. A four-time Triathlete of the Year, Matt, on more than one occasion, had three or more worthy performances. The desire to include the performances of several athletes, not just one, or even two, prompted the institution of the MPR.

Gaby Bunten (photo) was affected by this rule this year, thus Selectors had to determine which two of her three nomination-worthy performances to choose.

Here are the the official F-POY nominees:

 

- GABY BUNTEN - Victory @ Minneapolis Triathlon - 2:08:34 - Gaby outraced an outstanding field, including two-time Duathlon National champ Danielle Dingman (MO) and 2016 Minnesota Triathlete of the Year Hanna Grinaker.

 

- GABY BUNTEN - 5th overall woman at USAT Olympic Nationals - Cracking the overall Top 5 at Nationals is a big deal. Gaby joins Cathy Yndestad (2008, 2009) and Heather Lendway (2013, 2014) as the only Minnesota women to reach the Top 5 at Nationals since the millennial turn...

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Lemon Toast & Playing Yo-Yo...

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By Joe Adrieans (triadrieans.com)

 

Maple Grove Olympic Triathlon was the first time I have ever raced a true Olympic distance triathlon.  I wasn't sure what to expect other than to just let it all hang out.  Absolute red line the entire day.  So that's what I did.

Lead Up
I had been building some really good bike and run fitness for Ironman 70.3 Worlds prior to this race, so I was feeling pretty good on that front.  The only issue was some nagging lower back pain from ramping up the bike volume after Chisago.  Thanks to Dana at Podium Sports and Dr. Michael at Premier Sports and Spine, I was able to tow the line!  Thank you both so much for keeping my body race ready!

The strategy was simple: swim my arms off, bike my legs off, and hang on for dear life on the run....

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